Muzaffarnagar riots: The inciteful speeches that fanned rioters' fury

From social media to Whatsapp, from the so-called polarisation of Uttar Pradesh after the arrival of Narendra Modi-aide Amit Shah in the state to the bogey of 'love jehad', the causes cited for the Muzaffarnagar riots have ranged from the suspect to the bizarre. Now, television grabs of speeches made by political leaders belonging to either community, show exactly what hate-speeches fanned the rioters' fury.

According to a report in Headlines Today, these speeches by political party leaders played a key role in setting the stage for the violence that subsequently claimed at least 38 lives.

An eerie calm in Muzaffarnagar as security officials patrol the city. AP.

The report points to comments made by Qader Rana of the Bahujan Samaj Party who was addressing the Muslim panchayat, Saeed-Ur-Zama of the Congress party and Rashid Siddiqui of the Samajwadi Party.

The police have now almost agreed that it was a bad decision to allow the maha-panchayat to be held on Saturday as part of the religious fanning seems to have happened from there. According to reports, there were provocative speeches against Muslims made in the panchayat largely attended by Jat Hindu farmers.

As Praveen Swami of Firstpost had earlier pointed out, blaming social media and a video of two boys being lynched in Sialkot is missing the point completely. The growing clamour calling for curbs on social media because of some imagined connection with rising political violence ignores politicians who thrive on violence.

As the Headlines Today report asked, Who will bring these politicians to book?